Jun 212011
 

How much do you charge for digital products? For a decade my answer to that was “nothing!” It was freeing to be able to give away stuff, unhampered by material costs of production. I’ve been giving away e-books since 2000, and I’ve benefited from this in a number of ways.

However — in case you missed it — things have changed in the last decade. The print book market has been becoming less viable, and the digital becoming more so. Also the e-book reading experience is becoming more and more comparable to the print one. At a personal level, I’m reading as much on my phone as I am on the page.

So: I’ve decided to charge something for them now. But how much?

That’s up to you. Whatever you think is fair and whatever you’re happy to pay. If you’re looking for examples, read on.

  • No stable income and are a bit hesitant to buy anything, but think you would give my writing a try if — say — you found it for cheap at a garage sale? Chuck in a buck or two.
  • Read a book of mine already and think you’ll like another? Maybe a $5-10 donation depending on if you have a day job.
  • If you like the DIY articles on the site, want to support the approach I have to creative work, or even previous writing I’ve done — $10-20? People who donate in this range will get a free lo-fi sci-fi DVD!
  • And I won’t turn away $20 or more, though I will offer to mail you a No Media Kings t-shirt for your support.

Click the donate button on the book you want on the sidebar. Go with your gut — don’t get hung up on how much exactly, you can always come back and donate more if the book changes your life or something.

I’m hoping this will be a way for people to express their support, rather than an onerous paywall. For people who are put off, there’s always the library, or you could poke around on the web (even on this site) for places that’ll continue to give it away for free.

Prose Book Formats: EPUB, MOBI, PDF, RTF. Comics: PDF, CBZ, CBR.

When you donate, indicate the format you want. If there’s a format not listed above leave a comment below with your email and I’ll see about generating it. It’s all DRM free so you’re able to pass it around to friends.

UPDATE: Now available on Amazon, if that’s easier for you Kindlers, though for a static price.

  5 Responses to “E-Book FAQ”

  1. I already have your books, but I was wondering, since you’re offering the books in all those formats, why not the most common comics format that’s around the net, .cbr? It’s basically just a RAR file with hi-res jpegs inside.

  2. Have you done any audio renditions of your books? (love to listen, have bad eyes). Audible.com is a good resource.

  3. […] I backed a Kickstarter for their film tour of GHOSTS. I did this entirely because they’re releasing their film DRM free. In fact, they do other things than just make GHOSTS. They write books which are also DRM free. […]

  4. […] all of his written work in eBook format on an admirable pay-what-you-want basis that is outlined here. His books are available physically as well at reasonable costs through mail […]

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